Backlit modded Game Boy (DMG-01)

[GamingHistorySource]

nice ! 8 led's ? might take away 10 minutes of play time off of the battery life. seems like a fair exchange to see in the dark :D. But other than just the fact that "You did it just because You could" it would seem pointless now. But a cool mod never the less. I like ! :)

[mattias1234]

NOW DO IT FRONTLIT!

[FitzGarrett]

teach me how to do it

[iorel1982]

it may consume to much battery 

[TheLynxie]

@iorel1982 LEDs use almost no electricity,

[Driftkid0909]

@TheLynxie Wrong. They use almost no CURRENT.

Electricity, voltage and current are not the same thing.

[TheLynxie]

@Driftkid0909 Fine, power. Either way, what comes out of the battery fuels the machine.

[GamingHistorySource]

@iorel1982 over the life of the battery's it may consume at the most 10 minutes of play time given it's about 8 lights.

[iorel1982]

in this case you have to play conecting whit the recharger

[RWL2011]

cool mod!

[ryanc519]

now this is what I call a real mod - a modification that is aesthetically pleasing and at the same time provides some real functionality

[fjodor]

@ryanc519

Thanks :) But I only installled a kit from Nonfinite Electronics (see video details).

But it does look really good, I agree. It was a function I always thought should be there when I was a kid.

[ryanc519]

@fjodor I am about to open up my old gameboy and fix the bad connection. It has been sitting on the shelve for 15 years and some vertical pixels had disappeared last time i checked it. I might as well mod it while I'm at it.

[fjodor]

@ryanc519

Ah, so I suppose you have seen my video regarding that problem then?

Do it! It feels good! :)

[IIsorrentoII]

Quiero uno así! si los viejos game boy tuviesen luz aún los jugaría >:D

[stanleyopar91]

{in Russian Accent}

PLAY TETRIS!

[TheUnbiasedGamer]

Finally a lighting mod that has a purpose other then cosmetics!

[rfvtgbzhn]

how long is the battery life when using this backlight?

[fjodor]

@rfvtgbzhn I haven't compared before and after. But the backlight is just two tiny SMD LEDs, I haven't noticed any big drain though. If you have a problem with this you can always add a small on/off switch :)

[j7512]

@fjodor I'm going to attempt this mod as well as it's my first electronics project and my first ever mod!

[fjodor]

@j7512 Sounds good, it's probably a good project to get your feet wet so to speak. The only hard part might be getting the backing film off the screen.

[ChilledLemons]

HOLY FUCK I WANT TO MOD A GAMEBOY.

[Riddler95]

Do the batteries die quicker with the backlight?

[fireseed23]

you said you got the lights fron nonfinite, are they the 'clear' ones, or is there actually a model for 'white?' Thanks a lot.

[fjodor]

I had to check my order confirmation, but this is what I ordered:

2 x 1.5mm Dual LED SMT Backlighting Kits (NEW MODEL) (PROBACKLIGHTKIT1.5MM)

= $30.00 1.5mm panel LED color White

[loomp]

@fjodor Here an Idea find a way to replace the blury spinach Fat Gameboy screen with a the clearer non blury non spinach Gameboy Pokect screen with LED back light and make it all fit in place since the old Gameboy screen kinda sucked.

[yourlocalloser]

I just got a DMG-01 I wanna mod the screen so bad. I also wonder if it's possible to add a rechargeable bat.

[fjodor]

Do it!

I think you are probably better off getting a four pack of rechargeable AA batteries and a quick charger. As there is no charging electronics in the DMG01 it would probably be hard to fit :-)

[RWL2011]

@fjodor quick charger = bad, rechargeable batteries in game boys = bad (from my experience anyway)

[fjodor]

@RWL2011 YMMV, I haven't had any problems so far anyhow :)

[RWL2011]

@fjodor the pocket is actually pretty good on rechargables, the color eats them, not sure about the DMG brick

[naruto4lyf1997]

well you could have done that or just bought a game boy light...lmfao

[fjodor]

No soldering involved in that, no fun! It's the journey that is interesting, not necessarily the result :-)

[SuperCosmica]

Isn't that a front light?

[fjodor]

It's a piece of plastic with a reflective backing surface, two SMD LEDs and a polarizer filter mounted on the back of the original LCD (the original polarizer and reflective surface was removed)

You decide; I don't know if it's the correct term. It is not a light mounted on the front of the LCD though :-)

Anyhow it works great! :D

[fjodor]

plastic = clear plexi glass :)

[RomeoGoesRetro]

not yet. I was considering doing another. maybe another color.

what I really want to do is, this mod on a gameboy pocket. You ever attempted that with this kit?

[RomeoGoesRetro]

hey,

got it all done! looks amazing!! Thanks for your help!!!

[fjodor]

Great! Glad to be able help! Have you posted any videos or pics of it?

[RomeoGoesRetro]

hi,

i was wondering does the screen look like a standard gameboy screen with the backlight turned off.... or have you not installed a separate switch?

Thanks!

[fjodor]

Actually I haven't tried. I ordered the tiny switches from Nonfinite also but I haven't installed them as I didn't have any cutting discs left for my Dremel.

I do not think I want to use it without the backlight now though as it looks better in daylight also :)

I don't think the two LEDs draw that much current compared to the rest of the unit that it really makes that big of a difference.

[RomeoGoesRetro]

Hi,

I opened up my gameboy, did all the scary stuff to it and it seems to have gone well! Don't know if my LCD is still 100% as i can't test it because the backlighting kit hasn't arrived yet.

So far so good though!!

:)

[fjodor]

Done any modding so far? :)

[RomeoGoesRetro]

Hey,

yeh done all the hard work! opened it, removed polarizer and foil. cut the plastic screen holder and removed the LED and resistors. Just waiting for my Backlight to arrive!! :)

[fjodor]

Thanks :-)

The white light looks a bit harsh here due my camera. It's very soft and nice on the eyes. If it's too strong for you, you can always replace the supplied resistor with a higher value to dim the light.

The soldering is very easy if you've done any soldering earlier. The biggest problem for me was removing the old polarization film from the back of the display. It took me several hours to clean the glue residue using acetone. But one of the units that was pretty easy to, YMMV.

[RomeoGoesRetro]

Hi,

im confused... what were you cleaning the glue off? cant you just remove everything off the back of the LCD, throw it away, and replace it with the polarized film nonelectronics supply?

(I am going with white too!)

Thanks

[fjodor]

The original polarization filter left a lot of glue residue on the glass. This residue had to be cleaned off before applying the new polarization filter from Nonfinite.

I've done this with three DMG-01, and it has varied a bit. On one there was almost no residue at all.

So you'll have to try; acetone does not seem to be a very good solvent for the purpose though. You might want to try something else. It was the only thing I had at the time.

[RomeoGoesRetro]

Thanks for you help! Looking forward to trying this mod!

[fjodor]

Just to clarify. I did not use a solvent to remove the old polarization filter. The glue residue was left after using a razor to split the old filter from the glass and then pulling it off :-)

[suicicoo]

nice mod there - i already have removed polarization filter & the foil from the back of the screen, but i have absolutely no idea how to remove the glue...

do you have any tips there?

sui

[fjodor]

I used acetone, but this was because it was the only solvent I had at home. I put some acetone on a q-tip and started rubbing. It probably took över an hour or so per screen (think of it as meditation ;D ).

I would probably give another solvent a try if I had to do it again. Maybe gasoline or some kind of high grade alcolhol.

[suicicoo]

ah, thanks it worked for me with the acetone - but it sure is a pain in the a** to get rid of the glue - thanks :)

sui

[fjodor]

Good to hear :)

[RomeoGoesRetro]

hi,

great stuff!!!

I am thinking of doing the same mod. would you say the white light is easy on the eyes? Also, how difficult did you find it to do?

Thanks